Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Implant For Nausea Relief
Johns Hopkins University has just patented a new device for relief from nausea. In the patent, Dr. Ronald Lesser, MD and Dr. Robert Webber, PhD propose a system that could help pregnant women cope with nausea without using drugs that could endanger the health of the fetus, among other uses. A small metal rod wrapped in a metallic coil is inserted beneath the skin on a patient's neck, close to the vagus nerve.
When current is run through a similar coil held outside the neck, the induced current in the inserted rod should stimulate the vagus nerve and disrupt the sense of nausea felt by a patient.
Johns Hopkins says that the strength and frequency of pulses must be set by a physician to suit each individual patient. Once adjusted, patients should be able to control their own symptoms with a hand-held device. Although the vagus nerve affects the heart, lungs and stomach, JHU says stimulation should not affect vital functions, such as cardiac rhythm.
(From Nausea relief without medication patent)
SF writer Lois McMaster Bujold wrote about a similar idea in her 2002 novel Diplomatic Immunity for use by space travelers who frankly had no stomach for free fall-induced nasea:
Roic unbent from the port, looking especially stoic, faint vertical lines of worry between his eyebrows.Miles asked, "Has everyone had their antinausea pills?"
Roic nodded earnestly.
Ekaterin said, "Have you had yours?"
"Oh, yes." He glanced down his plain gray civilian tunic and trousers. "I used to have this nifty bio-chip on my vagus nerve that kept me from losing my lunch in free fall, but it got blown out with the rest of my guts in that unpleasant encounter with the needle-grenade. I should get it replaced one of these days..."
If you are interested in science-fictional medical advances that are starting to appear at hospitals near you, see Bionic Arm Uses Neuro-Engineering, Brain 'Pacemaker' for Depression Sufferers and Southampton 'Remedi Hand' Beats Hollywood Thanks to Delster for pointing out this story; read a bit more at NewScientist.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/11/2005)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
MIT Computerized Bionic Leg Is Part Of The User
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain, through the mediation of the electronic brain in the leg.' - Charles Recour, 1949.
Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...' - Edmond Hamilton, 1932.
BrainBridge Concept Transplant Of Human Head Proposed
'Briquet’s head seemed to think that to find and attach a new body to her head was as easy as to fit and sew a new dress.' - Alexander Belaev (1925)
Natural Gait With Prosthetic Connected To Nervous System
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...' - Charles Recour, 1949.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Grok And The City Fathers From 'Cities In Flight' By James Blish
'Chris, the City Fathers are not interested in your welfare; I suppose you know that. They're interested in only one thing: the survival of the city.'
Why Not Move A Warehouse District?
'Did you never see a moving house before?'
Will An AI Found A New Religion?
'You must decide how you will worship Me.'
Terraformer Industries Make Methane
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock...'
I Need An Outdoor Spherical Display
'Usually a spherical display hovered in the centre...'
Worm Disrupts Physics Simulations Undetected For A Decade
'It diverts integers of the data, the fundamental message-units, so that they no longer agree.'
Muxcard Redditor's DIY Credit Card-Sized Computer
It's a computer, but just barely.
'Soft Assembly' Fashions That Fashion Themselves On The Wearer
'Clothes are no longer made from dead fibers of fixed color and texture that can approximate only crudely to the vagrant human figure...'
Orwell's Nightmare Of AI-Written Novels Comes To Pass
'Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces.'
ISS Plagued By Leak - Again!
'There were perhaps a dozen bladder-like objects in the tunnel...'
Ridiculous 'Ghost Murmur' Tech Still Science Fiction
'...it rears and spreads its fan. It can pick one man out of a crowd.'
Outdoor Video Screens Can Be Arbitrarily Large
The Shape of Things To Come
Infrared Contact Lenses To See In The Dark
'I can see in the dark, Case.'
What'll You Have? Extinct Animals Returned, Or Synthetic Eggshells?
'...a new plastic with the characteristics of an avian eggshell.'
Sunbird Pulsar Fusion Like Leinster's Space Tug
'It was a pushpot, which could not possibly be called a jet plane because it could not possibly fly. Only it did.'
RentAHuman App Lets AI Agents Hire Humans
'She wouldn't stop until Antar had told her everything he knew about whatever it was that she was playing with on her screen.'
